Lubricator



UNTTED STATES PATENT oFFioE.

EDW. J. BAKER, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

LUBRICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent N 0. 14,549, dated April 1, 1856.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD J. BAKER, of the city of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful improvement in the construction of lubricators for oiling the internal parts of steam-engines or other machinery while under pressure.

The nature of my invention consists in placing the reservoir which contains the oil, upon an upright conical stem or spindle by means of conical sockets in the upper and lower part of the reservoir fitting accurately to the spindle. lVithin this spindle are passages for the receiving and discharging of the oil, which passages connect, by means of openings made through the sockets, with the cavity of the reservoir and are opened or closed by moving the reservoir around the stem, for which purpose it is furnished with a handle. The openings in the upper part of the spindle and reservoir are those through which the oil is received into the reservoir, and the openings in the lower part of the reservoir and centrally downward through the spindle are those through which the oil passes from the reservoir to the place requiring lubrication. The openings in the sockets, by which the passages in the stem or spindle communicate with the reservoir, are so situated that but one of them can be open at one time, for the moving ofthe reservoir around the stem closes one vent or passage before it opens the other, thus preventing the possibility of wastage or accident from the blowing through of the oil, a matter which frequently occurs with those lubricators in which the receiving and discharging passagesare controlled by separate cocks.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus; Fig. 2, a vertical section and Figs. 3 and 4, the top or dust plates.

The same letters are used to designate the same parts in all the figures.

In Figs. 1 and 2, A is the reservoir for containing the oil, and B is the central stem or spindle which is screwed into its place by the shank c,- the wrench or spanner catching on the squares cZ, (Z, (Z, formed on the base of the stem. The reservoir A is moved around or about the stem B by means of the handle f, which is screwed into the side of the reservoir, and by this means operates the apparatus. The reservoir is attached to the stemby means of two conical sockets, one at the upper and one at the lower part of the reservoir which are accurately fitted to cOIrespOnding bearings on the stem, as shown at a and b Fig. 2. The apparatus as shown in section at Fig. 2, is in the position necessary for receiving a supply of oil into the reservoir. The oil being poured into the funnel 9, passes downward through one or more passages as it, into the lateral branch 70 and through the opening Z, in the upper socket, into the reservoir; the air in the reservoir passing off at the same time by entering at the opening m in the same socket and then passing upward and outward through the. central passage n. Thus, while the oil is being poured into the reservoir the air which it contained can pass off freely by the ventat the top of the spin dle, and the moving of the reservoir around the stem opens or closes both the air vent n and the receivingpassage 70 at the same instant.

In the lower socket b, Fig. 2, is the discharging vent 29, shown by a dotted circle, which occupying a position different to that of the two upper vents m and Z, while the lateral branch q of the downward passage 1',

has a similar position to that of the receiving passage is, the possibility of the upper and lower vents being open at the same time is thus prevented, for in order to put the lower vent 70 into communication with the discharge passage 9 it will be necessary to pass the reservoir around the stem through a portion of a revolution sufiicient to close the upper vents, which is indicated by the shoulder 0 coming into cont-act with the stud a, Fig. 1, and in order to close the discharging vent and to open the receiving passage so as to replenish the reservoir it is only necessary to move the reservoir around the stem in an opposite direction until the shoulder 15, Fig. 1, comes in contact with the stud a and when it is desirous that all the passages shall be closed it is only necessary to place the reservoir on the stem in such a position that the stud a shall occupy a middle point between the two shoulders b and c, a position which will be readily found by that of the handle f, being the position in which the apparatus should be left when not in the act of receiving or discharging oil.

It will thus appear, that the manipulation of the apparatus is reduced to the simple conditions of a forward and backward movement, and by which, all its functions are performed with absolute certainty and without the possibility of mistake which is a proof of the great superiority of this lubricator over those of common construction, which having, in all, three separate cocks, each requiring separate attention and movement and which, in the hurry of use, often produces such confusion and uncertainty by their complication as to cause very unpleasant consequences.

The funnel through which the oil is poured into the reservoir, is usually left open, and its inner surface being smeared with oil soon becomes covered with dirt and gritty particles to which, in locomotives es pecially, it is very much exposed. This is washed down into the reservoir by the next oiling, which also leaves the surface of the funnel in a condition to collect more grit. From the reservoir the gritty particles pass off with the oil to the rubbing surfaces, which for the most part are closely fitting metallic joints, such as the valve faces and piston bearings of steam engines, in which, when the grit is once introduced, it becomes embedded and soon producesdestructive consequences. This difficulty I elfectually obviate by placing across the mouth of the funnel g the circular plate 8 s, which is also shown at Fig. 4:. This plate is made to fit the funnel very tightly, as it need not be removed when once put into its place. In the center of this plate is a circular opening t, Fig. 4, through which the neck part 11., Fig. 2, of the stem B passes. In this plate is the opening v, Fig. 4, through which the oil is poured into the funnel g. The neck u of the stem, where it comes above the plate 8 s, is reduced to a square section for the purpose of serving as a carrier or holder to the covering plate to '10, shown also at Fig. 3, which has in its center the square opening 05 to fit the square part of the stem above 10.

In the plate w 10 there is an opening a, Fig. 3, large enough to receive the beak of an oil'c'an. This plate to w is retained by the squares of the stem which are above the neck part 1/, in a stationary position, while the plate 5 s which is across the mouth of the funnel 9 moves with the reservoir. It will therefore be necessary when about to replenish. the reservoir with oil, to move the reservoir around the spindle or stem till the openings in both the top plates w 'w and s s are in the same position in which case also the receiving branch K and the air vent n will be both. open. This position is indicated, as before explained, by the shoulder t, Fig. 1, coming into contact with the stud a; in all other positions of the apparatus the openings in the top plates will be shut and thus effectually exclude the dirt and grit from the interior of the apparatus as intended.

The top plates w w and s s and the reservoir A. are retained in proper position on the stem B by means of the nut a on the top of the stem which acts on the spring washer f between the nut and the top plates.

Having thus described the nature, con-" struction and operation of my improved lubricator, what I claim therein as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of the reservoir with the vertical. stem or spindle, by means of the conical sockets and bearings in the upper and lower parts of the reservoir, together with the passages or openings which are in said sockets and bearings, for the admission and discharge of the oil or lubricating fluid, and also for the escape of the air from the reservoir, while oil or fluid is being poured into it, the said passage being alternately opened and closed by rotating or moving the reservoir around or partly around the central stem or spindle, substantially as de scribed.

EDWVARD JOHN BAKER.

Witnesses HENRY Mo SHANE, HENRY ENGLISH. 

